now or never

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adverb

now or never (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, set phrase) At this sole opportunity, or not at all.
   • 1975, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson (lyrics and music), “Mamma Mia”, performed by ABBA:

     Mamma mia, even if I say
     "Bye-bye", leave me now or never

   • 2021 April 29, Jamie Jackson, “Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes help Manchester United hit Roma for six”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     There had been a sense of now or never about this semi-final for United. Another elimination would be a fifth last-four reverse under the manager and serious questions would be asked regarding their ability to break the psychological barrier that separates also-rans from winners.

Translations

now or never

• Danish: nu eller aldrig
• French: maintenant ou jamais (fr)
• German: jetzt oder nie
• Hebrew: עכשיו או לעולם (akhshav o l'olam)
• Hungarian: most vagy soha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nå eller aldri

  Nynorsk: no eller aldri

• Portuguese: agora ou nunca (pt)
• Russian: сейча́с и́ли никогда́ (sejčás íli nikogdá)
• Spanish: ahora o nunca
• Swedish: nu eller aldrig

See also

• once-in-a-lifetime